Women’s basketball turns early season struggles into success

Following a three game stint at Florida Gulf Coast University for the competitive Gulf Coast Showcase, the Buccaneers women’s basketball team was back in action Wednesday against the Murray State Racers.

The Gulf Coast Showcase pitted ETSU against tough opponents, and it appears the Bucs took away good things from the tournament.

The Bucs were firing on all cylinders Wednesday night, putting on an offensive show while playing lockdown defense on the Racers. Their shooting was on the marks, hitting 45 percent of their field goals, north of 30 percent of their three pointers, and a promising 86 perceent at the free throw line.

The veteran Shy Copney (Johnson City, Tennessee) went 4-8 from beyond the arc and contributed 19 points to the Bucs’ offensive effort. She also crashed the glass alongside the rest of her team. The Bucs outrebounded the Racers 58 to 42 and grabbed 17 offensive boards, led by junior Britney Snowden (Pensacola, Florida) with 5 offensive boards.

The most impressive part of the game came from the freshman Erica Haynes-Overton (Nashville, Tennessee). Haynes-Overton was everywhere on Wednesday night. She led the game in scoring, and had a 57 percent field goal percentage on her way to 19 points. Although she is a 5’5″ guard, she pounded the glass and grabbed an offensive board to go along with her 7 defensive rebounds. She also totaled 2 assists and a block, but her most impressive stat of the night came in the steals column.

Haynes-Overton was a force to be reckoned with on defense. She hounded offensive players all night and collected more than a few steals. Her first steal came in the middle of the first quarter, and her defense only amped up as the night went on, grabbing 7 more steals before the beginning of the fourth quarter. Already on their way to a blowout victory, Haynes-Overton caused three more turnovers to put her steal total for the night at a whopping 11. This broke the single-game record of 9 that was set back in 2003.

That wasn’t the only high number of the night. ETSU finished the game with a 96-68 win over Murray State, the most points the Bucs have scored in a game since 2010.

After a very competitive early season, this win serves as a promising look at the development of this young Bucs team. Look for ETSU to ride this hot streak as they continue their road trip at Winthrop against the 1-5 Eagles on Sunday and against a strong 6-2 Houston team.

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The East Tennessean is your source for everything ETSU. The Johnson City-based publication is assembled by ETSU students and printed by the Elizabethton Star every Monday and Thursday during the academic year. It is distributed to most university buildings and can be obtained for free from one of the publication’s many racks. All errors should be reported to Executive Editor Jessica Dunker at jdunker@etsu.edu or eteditor@etsu.edu.